Bones' Sister
by chloedrakon
Summary: What will happen when someone new comes to work at the Jeffersonian? What if it was Bones' lost sister? I created this new version of the same story I'm writing. The beginnings are close to the same, but the plot turns out to be a bit different.
1. Chapter 1

**This is pretty much the alternate version of the same story I have been writing. The other on isn't as realistic, but this one most likely will be. If you've read the other one, you know what's pretty much gonna happen in the first part, but I've decided to do both stories since they have different sides kind of to them. The beginning is almost the same.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

"Maxine, where do you think you're going?" Tammy yelled.

Maxine was already grabbing all of her things. "I'm leaving to go find a job."

"No you're not, you have things you should be doing here, getting a job means that you won't be home to do all your chores."

"My chores are done, and I'm seventeen, I'm not going to keep being told to do my chores and everyone else's when I should be getting money so I can move out of this dump."

"Who says you're going to be moving out?"

"Either I move out or get kicked out to go to another foster home, any way is okay with me."

Tammy pushed her against the wall with aggression which frightened Maxine, but she did so well not to show it. "You are not leaving, you will stay here."

"Goodbye, Tammy. I'll probably miss you least of all." Maxine walked to the door.

"You walk out that door, you won't be welcomed back."

"Fine by me." And she was gone.

* * *

**5 Days Later...**

* * *

Booth and Brennan were at the crime scene. It was a set of child's remains. Brennan was knelt down on the ground examining the body alongside with Cam. "Male, probably around nine or ten years old. I'm not exactly sure what cause of death is, too many broken bones."

"Time of death looks a little less than a week, around five days, but I won't be sure until I get these bugs to the lab." Hodgins added to the description.

"One thing we do know for sure, it was murder." Cam finished.

"Alright, we're taking it to the Jeffersonian." Booth said loud enough for all of the other techs to hear so they can all do their job. "Hey, Bones, isn't your family supposed to be coming in today."

"Just my dad and Russ." Brennan said.

"Oh, so no nieces or cousins? I thought this was supposed to be a reunion?"

"It is, Booth, my cousin that you met a while back doesn't want to come, and my dad said the other family members are too busy with their own plans to come visit. I don't mind it anyway, I don't think I'm that good with first impressions."

"Oh, c'mon, you gave me a pretty good first impression." Booth said with a hopeful smile on his face.

"I don't think slapping you in the face was a good first impression."

Everyone held back their laughter and covered it with smiles and glances to one another. "Never mind, Bones. So, what do you want to do with these remains here."

"Take it all back to the Jeffersonian." She said as she stood up.

"You heard her, take it all back to the Jeffersonian." Booth said it loud enough for everyone to hear and started walking off.

* * *

Maxine makes her way into the Jeffersonian institute, she's amazed at everything she sees. She looks around at everyone working and sees them wheeling a dead body in and onto the platform. Most people would find this stuff disgusting, but she found it interesting. As she made her way through the place looking at all of the events going on at once, she made her way to the nursery. She was too young and inexperienced to get a job working with actual remains or even working around that stuff. She decided that babysitting would benefit for her while she got her education in forensic science.

One of the woman in the daycare looked up and smiled when she saw Maxine was the one walking in. "Maxine, it's so good to finally meet you." She walked over to her a shook her hand. "Your guidance counselor told me a few things about what you've been through and since we had an opening here, I just had to offer it to you."

"Oh, wow, thank you so much." Maxine gave her a bright smile that added to the thank you she gave.

"It's no problem. I'm Jaime, by the way, and don't worry about taking care of the kids all by yourself, at least two people have to be working at a time. All you have to do is change a few diapers, feed them, watch them, just have fun with them, but you probably already know that, practically raising your foster siblings." Jaime noticed that last comment got to Maxine, so she decided to change the subject. "Anyways, what made you want to work at the Jeffersonian daycare?"

"Oh, I'm hoping after I graduate I can study to become a forensic anthropologist. This place is the top place in the world with Dr. Brennan as the forensic anthropologist. I'm hoping I can learn a few things from her here." Her eyes lit up when she talked about it so Jaime knew she was serious about this dream of hers.

"From what I've heard of you, you seem very bright. I'm glad to have you working here. Dr. Brennan isn't much to talking to people though, she's sort of her own person, in her own world. Some say she's cold, but here, she's textbook smart, and what you call street smarts, has washed over her head." She laughed at that last statement. "Don't worry, you're going to do great here, and maybe you can meet some of the others out in the Jeffersonian that can teach you a few things about this place.

"Thanks." Maxine smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Jaime, I'm here for my shift, sorry I'm a little late, had to talk to someone about scholarship applications." Maxine walked in and put her purse behind the counter.

"Well, you can make up for it, the little guy over there needs to be changed." Jaime said as she put one of the other babies back in the pin.

"No problem." Maxine was already on it. She knew she had to be good at her job to be worth the money she was getting paid. Although, she'd rather be the one out there identifying remains on the platform.

"Hey, I need you to take this paperwork over to Dr. Saroyan's office. She's in the forensic's area of the building, just down the hall. You should know that." She smiled and handed her the papers after she put the baby down.

"Sure, I'll take them over." And Maxine was gone.

* * *

Down the hall, Dr. Brennan was working in her office on the new case they were handed until her father and brother walked in. "Hey, Tempe." Max said as he entered.

"Hi, sorry I couldn't be off today, I didn't know we were going to be handed a case this quick after the last one." Brennan only glanced at them when she spoke, but she turned back to the computer immediately.

"Is it an interesting one?" Russ asked with a smile.

"You know I can't talk about the case, Russ." Brennan added, but the truth was she didn't want to tell them it was an interesting one this time.

Booth walked in and Brennan's head snapped to his and her words made him jump. "Anything new?"

"No, I was just gonna see if you were free for lunch, but I see your family finally got in. Max, Russ, nice to see you guys again." Booth said.

"Booth, you still with that girl from overseas?" Max asked.

He let out a small chuckle. "Hannah, yes, I'm still with her, Max."

"How's that going, by the way?"

"Dad!" Brennan warned.

"It's okay, Bones, but how about we all take a break, I mean it's your family reunion, let's not let murder ruin it. Lunch on me, who's in?" Booth gave everyone his charm smile and held his hands clasped together.

"Tempe, you work hard enough." Max started.

"Bones, that dead body will still be dead by the time we get back, a break won't hurt."

She could feel the hope coming from his body language. She knew her father and brother were hungry and they would enjoy a nice lunch at the diner, but she needed to complete a few tasks and examine the bones again. For a split second a thought told her that her family could go without her, but knowing Booth, he would never let her slide doing something like that. When she felt her stomach rumble, she agreed. "Alright, I've got forty five minutes, but that's it."

Booth's smile grew even bigger, if that was possible, and it didn't go unnoticed from Max.

Brennan let Booth help her take off her lab coat and hand her her purse as they all walked out of her office.

* * *

Maxine walked into the lab, but walked slowly amazed of its size. She saw people walking around with tools, a body on the platform currently being examined by a man with short blonde hair. She made sure security wasn't paying attention to her and she walked beside the platform to get a closer look at the body they were working on. Then... she noticed something.

"He got stabbed."

Maxine was shocked to hear someone speaking to her, she turned quickly to catch a short man with curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. "Huh?"

"The victim, he was stabbed in the chest. Whoever killed this one made sure the weapon would be hard to find too."

"Oh. That was cause of death?" Maxine asked, her interest peaked.

"Yeah, we believe so, but there's a slight chance that he was still suffering from the wound after he was stabbed, and just bled out."

"Well, good luck, I've got to give these forms to Dr. Saroyan. Do you know where her office is?" She asked.

"Yeah, walk straight then make a left. She should be in there, if not just leave a note on the forms and leave them on her desk."

"Thank you." She was gone, already making her way to Dr. Saroyan's office. She was doing so well, almost perfect, until she bumped into a large figure she didn't expect to come around the corner. Her immediate response for such an event came out from instinct. "I am so sorry"

"No, that was my fault. Are you okay?" The voice was deep, and the large figure was a man with brown eyes and short dark hair.

"I'm fine, thank you." She gave him a quick smile and noticed he was with a group. An old man, and what looked to be his son, and... Dr. Temperance Brennan?

"You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere?" He was frowning at her, he was trying to figure it out. He was a cop. She knew it, too, a special sense from being a runaway foster kid for about a week now. She's learned from others to know when you see one.

"Sorry, I don't know. But I do recognize you, Dr. Temperance Brennan." She gave a charm smile.

"Yes, I get that a lot. Booth, we need to go."

Of course, how could she have not known that a famous book author would be so into herself. She's rich, got this handsome boyfriend of hers, probably that agent in her books, how could she have not noticed this was going to happen. Well, might as well give her some information about that dead body on the platform to see if that changes her interest. "I'm sorry again, you guys have a nice day." Here it goes. "Dr. Brennan, is that the body you're examining on the platform?"

Dr. Brennan turned around, Maxine had succeeded in getting her attention. "Yes." Dr. Brennan said in response.

"One of the doctors here said that the stab wound to the chest was most likely cause of death and that he bled out, I assume you've already gotten this information, correct?"

The handsome man was showing signs of getting suspicious of her behavior, but Dr. Brennan just nodded. "Yes."

"I'm not a professional, but there's a hairline fracture on the cranium where the jaw bone attaches, and if my assumption is correct, there should be some evidence of something hitting his jaw multiple times, pushing it out of alignment, and putting the victim in too much pain to even try to escape. Now I better go deliver these forms." Maxine walked off.

Booth was still suspicious, but Brennan was fully convinced. "I need to see the bones." Dr. Brennan ran up to the platform to examine the remains. Booth sighed when he realized he wasn't going to get her out of the lab anytime soon.

Maxine walked into Cam Saroyan's office, realized she wasn't there so wrote a quick note and placed it on her desk with the forms then walked back out. As she was making her way around the platform once again, Dr. Brennan ran off the platform. "How did you see that? Were you on the platform?" She asked Maxine.

"I'm good, thank you for asking, and no, I was walking around the platform on my way to Dr. Saroyan's office to give her some papers. I just stopped and took a look." Maxine said calmly.

"That's impossible. I am the best forensic anthropologist in the world, how did you notice it from the floor?"

"Are you seriously worried about being second best, here? All I did was notice something and give you the information, no need to assume I'm here to take over your job, I'm only seventeen."

Brennan sighed. "I'm sorry, I've been told I'm straight forward, and a little over honest."

Maxine let out a laugh. "I've noticed."

"How did you notice the hairline fracture on the cranium?" Brennan asked calmly and more politely.

Maxine was just about to answer the question when she saw the handsome cop looking up from the computer right at her. His confusion of who she was, had disappeared from his face. He knew exactly who she was, and this was not going to end well. As soon as the cop made way for a step, she bolted.

She couldn't remember how long she was running, but it didn't take long for this cop to catch up to an inexperienced runaway. Next thing she knew, she was face down on the ground and he hands behind her back currently being cuffed. "What's your name, kid?"

"Em." She said.

"Not the first letter, your whole birth given name." The cop asked again.

"Maxine Ruth Keenan."


	3. Chapter 3

"Maxine Ruth Keenan."

Everyone looked at each other in shock. Booth took the cuffs off of Maxine and just as quickly shoved Max up against the wall. "Booth!" Brennan yelled. The whole Jeffersonian was watching right about now. Maxine didn't dare run at this point, but was curious why he let her go and went after this man.

Booth looked into Max's eyes with deep anger. "Do you want to explain to me why her name is Maxine Ruth Keenan?" He pause in between her first middle and last names making it clear he knew something was up. When Max didn't answer, Booth spoke. "I'm going to ask her a few questions and you are going to stay quiet." He let go his hold on him. "If you dare run, you know well I'm not afraid to shoot you."

Maxine had to admit she was a bit scared when Booth turned towards her. "Do you know your father's name?" She was surprised his voice could get so calm after that.

She shook her head.

"How about your mother's name?" Surprisingly she was feeling a little more relaxed now.

She shook her head again.

He sighed, and started thinking of another question to ask her. "Booth, what are you trying to prove?" Brennan asked. Booth just looked at Maxine as if she was supposed to already know the answer, then it hit her.

"I've been in the foster system for my entire life up until about a week ago when I ran away. There was a note I found inside a bear I had since I was a baby with a note from my parents. It said to only read it when the time felt necessary. I read it the first night I left the foster home. It said that the foster system was the only way to keep me safe and that it was for the best, that situations were complicated and hard to understand, and I should do my best to become the person I was to be even if it was without them."

"Tempe, do you think, she could be..." Russ asked.

"No, it's impossible." Brennan walked off and headed straight for her office.

Booth looked at Maxine and noticed how confused she was. "Dr. Hodgins, will you take Maxine to Angela's office. I have to talk to Max about a few things." Hodgins took Maxine as he was told and then he looked at Max. "Is it true?"

Max nodded. "Yes, it is. Temperance was good on her own, and Russ had two girls to take care of. I couldn't bring her into our world."

Now Booth was angry. "So you kept her in the foster system when you know well how much Bones hated that place. I understand why you left her on her own, but a baby who you could have at least taken out of foster care when the courts said you were innocent and you didn't have to run anymore. You could have saved your daughter three years from being in the foster system. You could've at least told your kids about her."

"She was born the same year Ruth died. 1993. I've checked on her multiple times before, she's doing great in school, she's trying her hardest to do her best. I didn't want to ruin that for her." Max said.

"No, but you chose to destroy seventeen years of her life instead."

"Why'd you not tell us, dad?" Russ asked. "At least we could've made the decision of what we would do ourselves."

"Look Russ, I had my reasons, same as when I left you and Tempe."

"I thought you changed, turns out you're keeping more secrets from us." Russ walked off.

"Booth, can I ask you to do something for me?" Max asked.

"I'm not gonna help you out of this mess, the only advise I have is to get to know your daughter, and figure out what your gonna do."

"I know I messed up, but I do know Temperance, and she's gonna shut back down. You're the only one who is close enough to help her through this. I'm not asking you to get her to forgive me, but to be there for her when she needs it. She needs someone who loves her."

"I told you, Max, I'm not in love with Bones, I'm with Hannah, remember?"

"Even I know that's crap, you love her, you've always loved her. Be with her, even if it's not the way you two should be."

"I can be her friend, Max, but I'm a cop. If you want me to be with her, you need to make sure I don't have to put that girl back into foster care."

* * *

Maxine was brought into an office with paintings and drawings all over the place. I giants TV screen with all these electronics attached to it. Who's office was she brought to? That was the question that was running through her mind. "Shit!" Maxine turned when she heard the swear coming from a corner of the office.

"Hey, baby, are you okay?" The curly haired guy named Hodgins walked over to the corner to find a dark haired half Chinese woman sitting in a pile of drawings.

"I dropped a cookie and I can't find it." She kept moving papers searching for the hidden cookie.

"I'll get you another cookie."

"That was the last one, Jack! I need to find that cookie!" She kept searching.

"That cookie will have so many germs on it since it has been on the floor for a couple minutes now and most likely fell on one of these art pieces and all the toxic material could have even gotten on it." Maxine said.

The woman looked at her in shock. "When did Dr. Brennan become a teenager?"

The man smiled apologetically at Maxine. "Angela, this is Maxine. Maxine, this is Angela."

Angela stood up and shook her hand. "I'm sorry, pregnancy hormones can really take over a person if you let it. Just curious, are you Dr. Brennan's cousin or something?"

Maxine didn't know how to answer that considering what just happened outside the office. Hodgins glanced at Maxine noticing she hasn't answered. She took a breath and shook her head. "I think I'm her sister."


	4. Chapter 4

"How did I not notice this?" Brennan was pacing back and forth in her office and Russ was doing he best trying to get her to calm the slightest bit down, but he was failing with every word.

"You couldn't have noticed, Tempe. And you know dad's good at hiding things from us. He's done it before." Russ tried.

"I saw her remains, Russ. I should have noticed she had given birth to another child. I should've noticed."

"Tempe, stop beating yourself up."

"Did you know about this? Have you been keeping secrets from me, too?"

"No, now will you calm down and relax."

She stopped to face Russ, her fear clearly showing. "I can't relax, Russ! Things have just been changing too much lately."

"This isn't just about a long lost family member, is it?" When she didn't respond immediately, he knew it was true. This had to do with something that happened with someone else really close to her. He remembered Max telling him something about Booth leaving the country and coming back with a girlfriend. Great! This had to do with Booth, too. "Is it Booth?"

"I guess you could say I'm keeping him at arms length."

"Tempe, I know you probably don't want to hear this from me, but you only get one chance for every moment you have a decision to make. Sometimes you just have to take a risk with what you feel, rather than what's right. Normally, it's the other way around, but do you know what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good."

* * *

Maxine sat on the couch in Angela's office and she looked around at all of the art, taking in all of the details of the place. "You're an artist." She said. "I'd say you're a big fan of art, but I can see there's a similarity to each piece, either you only like one artist or you did these yourself. They're really beautiful."

"Well, thank you." Angela smiled. "So, do you mind telling me about yourself, Maxine?"

"Why would I mind?" She asked.

"Well, Brennan was never really the type to open up about things. I would tell you some of the stories, but I think it'd be best if she got to tell you them herself." Angela sat across from her on the other end of the couch.

"It seems like that boyfriend of hers knows her pretty well."

Angela laughed. "Sadly, Booth and Brennan are not together."

Maxine looked shocked which made Angela smile wide. "Are you serious?"

"Sweetie, I'm serious as a heart attack."

"I could've sworn, the way those two act, that they are head over heals for each other. The sexual tension is practically oozing off of them." Maxine laughed with Angela.

"Believe me, I've tried knocking some since into Brennan to tap that, but she's too rational to make any decision with that pumping organ in her chest."

Maxine laughed. "Her heart." She paused for a moment and she realized she never answered Angela's first question. "Well, you already know my name is Maxine. I've been in the foster system my whole life until I ran away last week. I've been doing fine, but running into a cop was not on my list of things to happen before I turn eighteen."

"Don't worry, Brennan has a little soft spot for foster kids, and Booth knows if he just threw you back into the system without knowing you were going someplace safe, she'd kill him."

That made Maxine seem to relax more. "If Dr. Brennan and I are related, do you think she'd let me stay with her until I turn eighteen."

Angel frowned thinking about it for a second. "You know, I really don't know what she would say about that."

* * *

Booth walked into Brennan's office and it was silent by the time he got there. He thought something was wrong, but he saw that look of Brennan's face and he rarely saw it. It was when she was stressed about making a decision she was confused about. Not her simple confused because she usually looked up facts to get her choice with those, but the one she'd usually run to him for advise about, except for those very few she didn't want to talk about, but do on her own. He knew it was about Maxine, and he had a feeling what was going through her mind, but just watching her made his heart break. He wanted to go over there and comfort her in any way he can, but things got awkward ever since he told her about his feelings, and even worse when he came back from Afghanistan with a girlfriend. He still loved her, but he needed someone that wouldn't be afraid to be with him, even if that meant he didn't truly love them as much as he loved his partner.

He slowly stepped towards her desk and he noticed she was well aware of his presence just chose not to say anything. Even if he already knew, he had to ask. "Bones, you okay?"

She looked up at him for a moment and she gave him a little nod. "Yeah."

The lack of words and her expression on her face told him she was not in the mood to talk about it, and he also noticed that science part of her was put to rest more than he's ever saw her do in the time he's known her. Her sudden words shocked him.

"Booth, what are you gonna do?" She looked at him hopefully, yet confused, with those bright blue eyes he'd do anything for.

He knew what she was talking about though, so he answered quick. "As a cop, I have to do something about a runaway." She just gave him a simple nod that she understood, but he wasn't finished. "But as a friend, I'd like to ask you first, what you want to do."

She looked at him, looking for an answer in his eyes. She didn't speak for a long moment, just looked at him while she though out that tough decision in her head and the only answer that actually made since to her. "Booth, I'm not good at this."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not good at making a decision when the rational one is so simple, but something inside me is trying to tell me something completely different." That's when it clicked to Booth, why that expression on her face was so rare.

"Bones, that's your heart trying to tell you to do something irrational because it feels right rather than listening to the facts." Booth had stepped closer to her. "I know you don't like making decisions that way, but sometimes it's the best way, for you, and the others around you."

"Booth, I know she's supposed to go back into the system, but I feel like that isn't the best thing for her."

"You believe the best thing for her is to be around her family, even if she just met them."

Brennan didn't say anything, but her face told him he got that one right and she wanted Maxine to be a part of life.

"It's up to you, Bones, if you want Maxine to live with you." Booth said. "If you want her to go back into the system, I can make sure she goes someplace she'll be happy in."

"What do you think I should do?" Brennan asked.

"I think a lot of things, Bones, but I've learned that suggesting things to you is a risky path, and I think you should make this decision any way you have to."

Brennan was starting to feel a little bit helpless, but it made since that this decision was hers to make. She knew she wasn't going to get any imput from anyone else with the risk of her either listening and regretting it or not and coming out with the same outcome. This one was full on her and she had to make a decision before the end of the day or Maxine wasn't guaranteed a safe place to be. Thinking about it a moment longer, Brennan knew she couldn't fight it, she made her decision, and she was ready to tell everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to all of my amazing followers and I'm loving the reviews. Helps me write a lot faster. I usually write my chapter around the average of a thousand words, but I've been getting a little carried away with the story line and I keep writing past my limit over a couple hundred words. I may start writing them longer if you're lucky, but you gotta keep reviewing. Haha.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

Brennan stood up at her desk, her decision was made, and Booth and Russ looked at her ready for the answer to their question that had been running through their head every since her confused expression was erased from her face. He looked at both of them and sighed. "I made my decision."

They still stared at her as if she had left them on a cliff hanger. "What is it, Tempe." Russ asked.

* * *

Meanwhile, Maxine and Angela were getting to know each other while sitting in her office. They were constantly laughing and telling stories about their lives. Angela had told her some stories about how Brennan and Booth had always ended up in awkward conversations or positions almost every case they got and Maxine was getting a kick out of hearing these stories. She learned a lot about everyone there and how Angela was one of those girls who talked gossip. Cam had made her way in and they all ended up having a long conversation telling the stories about their crazy dramatic lives there at work more than at home.

"He literally dreamt he was married to her, and when he woke up he had to go through therapy to remember what his real life actually was. Single, never even dated his partner, and he had to forget about that whole dream, but that didn't work." Cam said.

"Nope, he fell for her, but he's been in love with her since he met her, it just took a dream to enhance it." Angela laughed.

"Wow, you guys have crazy lives here." Maxine said.

Cam looked at her. "Well, how about you?"

"Not since I walked into this building today and happened to run into all of you people. Today has been the craziest day of my life." Maxine took a sip of the water bottle Cam had got for her since Angela was too pregnant to get up herself. She also made Cam get her a bag a cookies to help the craving.

"Well, I am curious what made you run away from your foster home."

"It was just not a good place for me to stay. I just felt like I shouldn't have been there and it was better if I just got out. I mean, I didn't know I was gonna run into any family here." She laughed. "That was just a random plus."

Angela looked at Cam. "She's still worried Booth is going to put her back into the system."

Cam shrugged. "He could, but Dr. Brennan will not let you end up in any kind of hell. You are going to probably placed in a home stashed with love and incredible food." She was trying to light up the mood, but Maxine only put on a fake smile. "Hey, nothing bad's gonna happen to you, okay? You're going to be just fine."

Maxine smiled a little. "Thanks. Even if I do get put back in the system, I can honestly say this day has been the best day of my life."

Cam and Angela glanced at each other knowing Maxine wasn't admitting much about her past for a reason. It wasn't worth living or repeating. They kept quiet and smiled for Maxine's sake. "Hey, let's make a project." Angela pointed to a couple things against the wall and Cam knew she had to go get them so Angela wouldn't be required to stand up on her sore feat. "We're gonna use these cardboard square pieces and try building a tower as tall as we can without letting them fall down. You think we can do it?"

Cam seemed unsure, but Maxine lit up. "Sure." And they started.

* * *

Max had been pacing and he decided to walking in Angela's office to have a chance to talk to Maxine. As he entered, Maxine was standing on a chair putting a cardboard square on top of a six foot tower. They cheered when she got it to stay without the tower falling over. She climbed down from the chair and Max cough to make them notice his presence and everyone turned to see him. That's when Angela actually had the nerve to get up and pull Cam out of her office without a word giving Maxine time to talk to her father.

"I know this probably isn't the best way for you to meet anyone here." Max started.

Maxine nodded. "It could've been worse." She reassured. "Are you still with my mother?"

"You're mom died the year you were born. I still miss her. You and Tempe have her eyes, and smile." He told her.

She smiled. "They said something about you not being around. I don't know what happened, but I think I have a right to ask."

He nodded. "I was with some trouble with some guys and the law. Your mother and I, we had to run. Tempe was still a teenager and Russ was old enough to take care of her, but being as scared as she was, she shut him out. He let her go into the foster system and he ran off, doing who knows what and getting in trouble along the way. I regret leaving them, but I know if I stayed, I was risking their lives as well. I let Russ know who I was later on, but Tempe was good on her own, so I stayed out of her way. She did find out who I was and eventually I was able to come back into her life after some obstacles were cleared up. You would have been fourteen at that time."

"You could have got me. You could have saved me from going place to place with no one to help."

"I know, and I should have, and I'm sorry I didn't. But now that you know me now, I want you to know that you can have a place to call home, only if you want. And if Temperance offers you her home to you, you can choose that, too. I want to be in your life now, and I understand that you need to have a safe and loving home to be in no matter how many months you have left before you're officially out of the foster system. I don't deserve another chance, but I know Tempe wouldn't want you going back there."

Maxine smiled. "So everyone keeps telling me." She looked at him for another moment. "I'd love to live with either you or Dr. Brennan. I want to get to know you all better. No matter what confuses me or bugs me, I know I should give my family a chance, right?"

Max just smiled and nodded to her. "Just promise me, if Temperance offers her home to you, you take her of that offer before you come to stay with me. She deserves to have someone there for her more than I do."

She nodded. "I will."

* * *

Cam and Angela walked in Brennan's office just in time before Brennan was about to tell everyone her decision. Cam was a bit confused and looked at Booth for help and he leaned over and whispered the answer to her. "Bones is about to make a decision from her feelings."

Cam immediately piped up to listen now and everyone was holding their breath. "Bones, spit it out!" Booth said.

Brennan let out a breath. "I think it would be best for Maxine if she were to come stay with me. At least until she's eighteen so she doesn't have to go into the foster system and she'll have family around."

Cam and Angela started clapping and Booth was smiling big as Angela came over and gave Brennan a big hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"Ange, what did I do to make you so proud. Is this the hormones again?"

"No, I'm just so glad to know you really do have a heart in there."

"I wouldn't be alive if I didn't have a heart, that doesn't make sense."

Angela just sighed. "You know, Booth, I try, I really do, but she's hopeless." Angela and Cam walked out of her office.

Booth was still smiling over at Brennan and she was now confused by the big applause. "What?"


	6. Chapter 6

**My story had probably started getting boring from all the back and forth between offices, so it's time to move things on a bit and get more interesting topics rolling. I hope you all are liking my story, it's like two in the morning where I'm at and I'm surprised my brain is still functioning. After I write this I'm going to sleep. I wrote the last three just now.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

Brennan, Booth, and Russ were catching up behind Angela and Cam, and when they got to Angela's office, they all stopped and let Brennan go ahead. This was going to be her moment, and they didn't want to over crowd Maxine by standing there watching and knowing what was about to happen before she did. Maxine has just finished the conversation with Max and Brennan didn't really want to run into him just yet, but even he couldn't ruin what was about to happen.

"Dad, can you give us a minute?" Brennan asked.

Max nodded and walked out the door just in time to bump into the nosy crowd of people just outside the door. Brennan and Maxine stayed in their spots facing each other a moment before Brennan began to ask. "Maxine, how would you feel if I asked you if you would like to stay with me for a while?" She could feel her heart beating fast. "I've experienced the foster system myself and I know how horrible it can be sometimes. If you only want to stay with me until you're eighteen, that's fine, but I would like it if you would stay as family rather than a guest."

Maxine, even though everyone told her it was going to happen, she was still shocked to hear it for herself. She didn't say anything right away and she could tell that made Brennan all the more nervous. She didn't understand why for someone as rational and smart as everyone says she is and she could feel a few tears coming on out of no where. Never in her mind had she seen this coming. "I would love to stay with you."

There was loud cheering happening outside just as she said that and they walked to the doorway to see everyone giving high fives and smiling. Brennan broke the noise. "How long have you guys been standing there?"

"Bones, we walked you over here." Booth said still laughing.

Brennan just gave them a smile and Maxine was finding this whole thing hilarious. "And to help out with the lovely new addition to our family, all of us guys will help you move into your new home."

"And all of us girls will sit on the couch and watch." Angela added.

* * *

The laughing had already begun. The four girls were sitting in the living room of Brennan's apartment. The guys were moving around and setting up the guest bedroom into Maxine's new room. Every once in a while they'd come out to get another beer. Booth and Brennan had argued before about changing up the room, but when everyone was agreeing with Booth's side about doing the works for the new kid in the family, she had to cave. All she wanted was to set up the closet and move a few pieces of furniture around, but Booth wanted to paint the walls, and make sure everything would be homey for Maxine, but truth was he wanted an excuse to stay there for a while and have fun.

The girls were having a conversation while Sweets, Hodgins, Max, Russ, and Booth were working on the room. Cam and Brennan were both drinking beers, Angela and Maxine stuck with water due to being underage and pregnancy. Angela wasn't enjoying it, though. Brennan was of course talking all science even though it was supposed to be a welcoming thing going on. Booth over heard the conversation and had to stop a disaster from happening.

Booth walked out of the room and saw the path her conversation was about to take if he didn't stop her. "Hey, Bones, you got any new music?" He walked over to her stereo and started looking.

"Booth, don't go through my stuff." She got up and started walking over, but she should've went a lot faster.

He pulled a new CD out. "Bones, what is this?"

"What?" Then she saw which he was holding. "Booth, put it back." She reached for it, but he held it high above his head pulling the CD out of the case. All of the other guys had came out of the room to see what the racket was about and found Booth and Brennan playing keep away. The girls sitting on the couch stopped their conversations to watch as well.

"I just want to listen to it." He was trying to keep the case away at the same time while he pulled the CD out. "There's someone at the door." Just with enough time of her falling for it and turning to the door, he put the CD in the stereo system and turned it on. He then grabbed Brennan to make sure she couldn't turn it off. People were laughing at this point cause they've never seen Brennan this embarrassed about something, or anything really.

The song was a vocal recording of Brennan singing Girls Just Want to Have Fun. "Booth, turn it off!"

"C'mon, Bones, it's you. When did you record this?" Booth was still holding her from running to the stereo.

"I just recorded it because I was bored, I never listen to it, it's just there. Turn it off."

"For someone who can flip a guy twice as big as me to the ground, you're really not trying, are you?"

"I don't want to hurt you and be forced to work with another agent. I only work with the best, you know that."

"Whoa, was that a compliment?"

"No, of course not."

"I think it was."

"Just kiss already!" Angela shouted.

Booth and Brennan looked at each other, realizing how close they were standing and that his hands were almost around her. They both backed away from each other and Booth went to turn off the stereo. Brennan walked over to the fridge to get another beer. They were quiet and everyone was just watching their reaction. Sweets was the first one to speak. "By your actions right now, I believe..."

Booth's phone rang as if on cue. "Sorry, Sweets, no time for a lecture, gotta take this, maybe later." He answered his phone. "Booth... Hey, Hannah, I'm just over at Bones' place, the guys and I are fixing up, I should be home in about an hour." He paused and everyone was still watching him as he was talking on the phone. "No, I don't have to stay, they guys can finish without me. I'm heading out now. Love you." He hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket off the couch. "Hey, Bones, Hannah's back, so I'm gonna head out a bit early." He had his hand on the door nob when he turned to see her expression.

"That's fine." She said nodding her head.

Booth hesitated. "I can stay and finish, I can call Hannah and tell her I'm gonna stay."

"No, Booth, go. You haven't seen her in a week. I'll see you at work tomorrow." Brennan said.

He nodded. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." And he was out the door. When the door shut behind him, he stood there for a moment regretting even opening the door. He started walking after a few moments and headed to his car.

Meanwhile, after the door had shut and a few moments passed to make sure Booth was out of hearing distance, Angela spoke. "Brennan, what were you thinking? That was code he wanted to stay. I'm glad Maxine is going to be living with you, maybe she can teach you a few things about relationships."

"Angela."

"Okay, maybe not those things, but the important things."

Cam had to step in. "The emotional things."

"Don't say emotional around Angela, Cam." Brennan said.

"Funny, Brennan, that's only when it's actually about me." Angela said.

"Dr. Brennan, we're finished, ready to show Maxine?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, looks like I'm updating a lot fast now, I think it's because of my amazing fans and creative reviews you guys are giving to me. It's funny, too, because I'm also posting longer chapters, maybe because I have a lot more to write about in this story, but I do need to get back to my other stories before they get mad at me. And if you have a chance, check out my other stories, I personally like the Bones Season 8: Return of the Jeffersonian. It's a good story and I'm continuing it.**

**Well, anyways here is your new chapter, are you excited to hear how Maxine's room has turned out? Good, I'm gonna tell you.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

All the girls made their way to the guest bedroom of Brennan's apartment, but now it was gonna be known as Maxine's room. As soon as they opened the door, they saw the room. "The paint is still going to be a little wet for a bit, but other than that, we moved a few things around and made room for her to put her clothes up."

Brennan looked hesitantly at Maxine. "It looks... amazing." She was smiling even bigger than earlier that day. To everyone else, they though she was happy, but to Brennan, this was something she could understand more than anyone else in her life, they didn't have to do anything to the room to make her happy, they just had to be clear that this was her place to call home. "Thank you."

* * *

Everyone had left about an hour after they showed her the room and Brennan was helping Maxine put away her stuff and Brennan made sure she grabbed as many hangers as she needed from her own closet. It didn't take long to put her clothes up. Brennan knew that foster kids barely had anything. She washed all of her clothes while everyone was there and she let her take a shower after everyone had left. It made Maxine feel a lot cleaner when she didn't have clothes that smelled like trash bags.

They put a laundry basket in her room along with a lamp on a night stand. She had a couple personal drawers for stuff she could put in if she got anything. "Thanks again for letting me stay here."

"It's no problem. I didn't grow up with much family, even if it is a surprise, I'm still glad to know I've got some relatives out there." Brennan continued putting a few shirts on hangers and folding pairs of pants.

"Still, I'm just lucky I'm not going back into the system." Maxine said.

"I was in the system. I know what it's like. I know that sometimes getting kicked out is the best thing that can happen. I know that some people abuse. I stayed through it. My goal was to find my parents after they disappeared. That's how I got to where I am, and I did find them. But it's never what you expect."

"I noticed." Maxine was handed a few shirts already on their hangers and she hung them up the way she wanted. "What's with Booth?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, I had a feeling he was going to turn me into foster care immediately, but after what happened everyone was telling me that he would never do anything like that if you had something to say about it."

"He knows about my experience in the system. He knows how I feel about it, so he listens."

"Normally cops would just do their jobs."

Brennan laughed. "He's not a normal cop."

"Yeah, I got that." She laughed too. "I also got how everyone thinks you two are in love with each other." Maxine finished hanging all of her clothes and there wasn't much left to do, but finish the conversation.

"We're not in love with each other."

"Okay, well, how did you become to be real close best friends?"

Brennan turned to face her. "It's actually a really long story."

Maxine sat on her new bed. "I've got time." She gave her a smile and scooted back to the headboard when Brennan went to sit on the edge of the bed.

Brennan started the story. "The first time we met, he came into my lecture hall, I was teaching that day. He raised his hand and asked a question about removing flesh, if I was destroying evidence. I told him that I was revealing the evidence. After my class had left, we talked, he wanted me for a homicide case with the FBI. He wanted me to get the evidence to prove that the judge had killed the girl. When I went out in the field with him, the judge was rude, so I punched him in the nose. I was fired. I still sent them over the evidence through my assistant, and they decided that they should hire me back. I was angry, but not about being fired, I was mad at how Booth fired me. We went to a bar, and he got me drunk to fire me."

"Did you two do what I think you did?"

"No, I went home. When he rehired me the next day, we went after the judge. We found the evidence and when we had him in interrogation I figured out why he killed the girl. The motive. The case was solved, and I never wanted to see Booth again."

"Whoa."

She smiled. "He called the security at the airport a year later and told them when I flew in to hold me for questioning. He showed up, staged a fake rescue, I figured it out, then he drove me from the airport to tell me about an interesting case. That's when we became partners once again. From then on, we had case after case, a few struggles here in there. I learned things about him, he learned things about me, and we just became close friends. That's mainly the story."

"It's good."

"Remember to come by my office tomorrow afternoon, we're gonna go shopping for a few things for your room. Do you need anything before you go to sleep?"

Maxine shook her head. "No, I'm good, thank you." Maxine watched as Brennan got up and walked to the door about to turn out the light. "I know you don't like hearing it, but I believe Booth thinks of you a lot more than just his best friend. Just be ready when he tells you." Maxine got under the covers a laid down.

"Night." Brennan said as she turned out the light and walked down the hall to her room. She went straight into her bed, laid on her back, and stared at the ceiling thinking about how everything would've played out if she changed a few of her decisions. Ever since Booth told her how he felt about her and she turned him down, she's been making the most craziest decisions. Normally, she'd think before she'd make a decision, but ever since she met Booth she couldn't think. And when he brought back Hannah from Afghanistan, things got even worse. After thinking for a while, sleep over took Brennan.

* * *

Booth made it home to Hannah that night. They had dinner then went to the bedroom. Hannah had fallen asleep early from the jet leg and Booth was taking his clothes to do the laundry. As he put his clothes in the washer, he pulled out his phone and looked at Brennan's phone number with his finger hovering about the call button, instead he just opened a text message and sent her one. '_Hope Maxine settled in okay, if you need anything let me know_' He sent the text and waited there for what seemed like forever for a response, but nothing happened. That was when he looked at the time. It was nearly midnight, Brennan wasn't going to be up that hour before work unless she was at work, but that get together wore her out, he didn't blame her. He needed to sleep, too.

He finished up his laundry for the night and sat on the couch to watch some TV and check the sport scores. They were disappointing. His eyes were slowly closing and he let himself fall asleep.

* * *

Maxine was thinking about Brennan's story and she was slowly piecing everything together from information she got from everyone she met. She knew Booth was in love with her, and so did everyone else. They all knew Brennan was in love with him, but if he was in love with her he wouldn't be with another girl. She thought about it for another couple minutes and smiled. She got the answer.

Booth already told Brennan. That's when Maxine fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Getting interesting, isn't it? Well, I like how a lot of you are loving my story and my other stories I've written. I don't know exactly how I'm going to finish this story yet, I'm just going with the flow. But keep reading and enjoy my chapters I've been writing a lot lately.**

**There may be a few cuss words in this chapter, just a warning, nothing bad that you don't hear on TV these days.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

Brennan woke up that morning, took her usual shower, and got dressed for work. She heading down the hall and knocked on Maxine's door waiting for a response. "Maxine?" She knocked again. She slowly opened the door to find Maxine still sound asleep in her bed. "Maxine!"

"Huh? I'm up." Maxine sat up. "What time is it?"

"Seven, you better get ready if you want to ride with me." Brennan walked back to her room to continue getting her stuff.

Maxine rushed out of her bed and grabbed her clothes for the day. She changed as fast as she could, running to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth. She was ready a lot faster than she thought she'd be. She grabbed her back pack and walked into the kitchen where Brennan waiting for her to come in. "Alright, you ready."

"Yep."

"Let's go, I gotta get to work to work on that case we got. Yesterday, I got distracted from it."

"Sorry about that."

"You figured out cause of death. That was a tough one, too." Brennan said as they walked down the stairs of her apartment.

"Thanks, oh, and can you pick me up from school today?"

"If I can get out of work, I will, otherwise, I'll send someone else, is that okay?"

"That's fine." She hopped into the passenger seat of the car as Brennan jumped in the driver's seat.

"Are you a senior this year?"

"Yeah, it's my last year of high school."

"How are your grades doing?"

Maxine laughed. "Don't start going crazy parent on me. They're fine, I've got a three point seven GPA. I'm doing good."

"What do you plan on studying?"

"Believe it or not, forensic anthropology. I read your books and I've just been interested in doing that kind of stuff. I want to do it when I get older. It's the only thing that I've really felt like I was good at." She said.

"I'll help you study if you want. I am the best."

Maxine chuckled and nodded. "Yes, you are. I'm so glad you said that, cause I was going to ask Booth to help me."

"What why would you?" When she looked at Maxine she realized it was a joke. "That was a joke." She laughed. "That was funny. Booth would never be able to help out with that. Shooting a gun, yes, probably dating advise, too, but not bones."

"Is that how you got your nickname, Bones, from him. You work with bones?"

"Yes, it is."

"It's a good name."

"I hated it at first. I got used to it after a while, because he wouldn't stop, but when Sweets wanted to start calling me Bones, I was about to kill Booth for even creating it."

"Sweets looks a little young to act so smart."

"Booth would definitely agree with you."

They laughed.

Brennan dropped her off at her school and took off to work. When the students saw that she actually showed up in a car ride rather than walking or the bus, they all whispered as she passed by. Maxine noticed, of course, but didn't do anything about it. Not yet anyway.

Brennan made it to work and was checking her phone as she was heading to her office. She checked her email, any missed calls if she had any, but what stopped her in her tracks was the text message from Booth. She opened it and smiled when she read it. She loved him, she knew that, but she wasn't going to do anything since he was with Hannah. She continued walking again into her office.

* * *

They finished their case that day, just in time for Maxine to get picked up from school. They were cutting it close, since Brennan was with Booth, she had to tell him to head to the high school to pick Maxine up. As they drove, he asked her a few questions. "So, is Maxine settling in well?"

"Yes, I helped her put her clothes away last night, and we talked for a bit. She doesn't like getting up in the morning, so I did that trick my dad used with Russ, I told her it was later than it actually was."

"Did it work?"

"She was ready in twenty minutes."

"You are a genius, you know that?" He laughed.

"I'm the best, Booth." She smiled. He stiffened a bit and had to move to get comfortable. "Your back has been bothering you all day."

"I'm fine, I just slept on the couch last night."

"Oh."

"Oh, what?"

"Angela would say that you and Hannah got into a fight last night and you were forced to sleep on the couch."

"Hannah and I did not get into a fight last night, I was watching a game and I fell asleep, okay? You need to stop taking Angela's advise on some things."

"What's going on?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Bones, Hannah and I are fine, okay? Just let it go."

"Booth, I'm talking about at the school."

Booth turned his head and pulled up to the side of the road, there was a ring of people chanting. It was a fight. "It's a fight, Bones, let's go." They got out of the car and started walking their way.

* * *

School had gotten out and Maxine had grabbed her stuff from her locker. She walked her way out of the building, she had gotten a lot of comments about showing up in a nice car. Stuff about a good family actually choosing her. Stuff about how long it would take before she would get kicked out of this one. She never said anything back, just ignored everything. Jessica did not like that about her.

Jessica walked behind her as she was walking out and shoved her to the ground. "Get up Maxine." She said and the circle of people had already started to form around them. They chanted for the fight to begin.

Maxine stayed there for a moment and Jessica yelled again. "Get up, foster freak."

Maxine stood up and started to walk away, but Jessica wasn't finished. "Are you gonna run away, like you did with your last family. I wonder how those little kids felt to have no one getting hit for them."

Maxine tried to leave, but the crowd wouldn't budge, they didn't want her to leave. She turned around to face Jessica again, and just as she turned Jessica threw the first punch. It was enough to draw some blood and get Maxine's anger to rise. She just stood there, everyone was cheering for Maxine to throw a punch, but Jessica threw the second one knocking Maxine to her knees. Maxine just looked up silently pleading her to stop, but it all made Jessica even more mad.

Another girl made her way to the front of the circle. She was dark skinned with dark hair and she was watching the fight in pity rather than interest.

Jessica punched her a third time. "Why don't you fight, Maxine? I mean, you can't even stand up for yourself."

Maxine stood up once again, but Jessica knocked her down with the fourth hit then kicked her while she was on the ground watching as her victim squirmed in pain. "You're a freak, a loser, a no-good, nobody, that no one wants to hang out with. She punctuated each name with another blow to the body.

"FBI! Break it up." A voice yelled in the background.

"Shit." Jessica was already gone by the time the group had broken up.

"Maxine." Booth rushed to help Maxine up from the ground. "Who did this to you?"

"I'm fine." Maxine shrugged Booth off of her and started walking to his car. "Can we just go?"

"Yeah, we're heading back to the lab to get you cleaned up."

Brennan stopped Booth. "Booth, what are you going to do about this?" She asked.

"Let's just get her cleaned up back at the lab first, and if Maxine wants me to do something about it, I will, but for now I don't even know who did it, I'll have to call the school, though."

"Thank you, Booth." She gave him a hug.

"Welcome, Bones."

* * *

**What do you think Booth is gonna do about Jessica? What do you think Maxine is gonna do when she goes back to school?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here comes another chapter for my most amazing fanfiction fans ever. You guys are awesome, by the way, if I haven't been telling you enough lately. Now your questions are going to be answered. Let me know what you think, don't worry, the review button doesn't bite.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

Maxine flinched while Cam was wiping the blood off of her face. "You got beaten really bad, are you sure you don't want to go to the doctor." Maxine flinched again.

"I'm fine." Maxine insisted through all the pain.

"Your ribs could be broken. I can tell this person kicked you many times in the chest, sides, and stomach." Brennan said.

"Great, you're reminding me how smart you are at figuring out things everyday, except the obvious." Maxine sighed.

"I don't know what that means." Brennan shook her head.

Booth was too upset to laugh. "How did this happen, Maxine? What started it?"

"The car."

"The car?"

"I showed up to school riding in a car. I normally walked, or rode the bus, I was never driven to school. They all started talking. I never did anything to anyone who said things, but this girl came up to me after school made because I wouldn't stand up for myself. The more she hit me, and the more I didn't do anything back, the worse she talked, the worse she hit. If you didn't come when you did, I would've been expelled."

"That's exactly what's going to happen to this girl if you tell me who she is."

"That'll make it worse. She's not the only one in the school who's willing to throw a punch."

"You know if she kept hitting you like that, you are allowed to push her back. It's self defense, Maxine. When you are in a situation where you are stuck and you can't leave, fight until you can get out. That's self defense." Booth said. "Ask Bones, I've seen her flip a head gang leader to the ground for touching her shoulder."

Maxine smiled. Brennan was cracking a smile. "He touched me with his gross hands."

Cam let out a little laugh and finished cleaning all of the blood off of her. All that was left was a black eye and a bruise on her chin. She stood up off of Brennan's desk and flinched in pain.

Brennan noticed this and walked over to Maxine. "Don't move." She gently pressed on each rib on each side until she flinched. She finished making her way through all of the ribs, and she only flinched on two. "You're going to the doctors. I believe you fractured two of your lower right ribs."

"I know which ones, Brennan, I can feel it very clearly." She started walking to the door then stopped.

Straight ahead, two girls were walking in. The dark skinned girl she saw before, and Jessica, right by her side. Maxine straightened up as if she wasn't in pain. "Wait here for a sec." She walked out as if she had heeled within seconds. "Jessica, wow is that you. Looking good, girl. I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. Actually, never been better. Those punches you throw, excellent, B+ work right there."

"What are you doing here, freak?" Jessica asked.

"Jessica, stop, you've hurt her enough today." Michelle tried saying.

"It's okay, Michelle, she cam up to me. We're just talking." She smiled at Maxine. "What are you doing here? I assumed you got arrested since the FBI showed up."

"Oh no, that mess is all cleaned up, you're in the clear, Jessica. And I work here. So, I'm normally here everyday now." Maxine smiled.

"Wow, I beat the crap out of you, yet you still don't do anything to get revenge on everyone who treats you like crap everyday of your high school life. What do you think that beating was for?" Jessica had snapped. She pushed Maxine back a couple feet. "You were supposed to fight back, bitch." She punched Maxine to the ground. "Does get up sound familiar, Maxine?" She spit.

Maxine rolled back and used her hands to flip herself up off of the ground. "There's a reason why I don't fight back." She punched Jessica in the face once and knocked her completely on the ground. "It'll actually hurt you."

Jessica got up and ran to the bathroom the clean the bloody nose she just got. As soon as she was out of sight, Maxine fell to her knees in pain. Booth, Brennan and Cam ran out of Brennan's office and helped her up. "You know how you said my ribs are most likely fractured? I think they broke."

"Cam, we're taking Maxine to the hospital, get Jessica and hold her here until I get back, get security if you have to." Booth said leaving Cam behind as Brennan and him helped walk Maxine out of the Jeffersonian.

* * *

Maxine was admitted to the hospital. She had broken the two ribs that were indeed fractured until she finished off that fight. Brennan would not stop talking about how irrational it was, Booth was also being a bit protective, but he couldn't say much. He was the risk taker cop. He would be a hypocrite if he started lecturing her about finishing a fight.

"Look, I'm perfectly fine now, I'm in a bed, doctors know what they're doing, and I'm gonna heal." Maxine insisted.

"What you did was stupid and irrational, Maxine?"

"Brennan, you're not my mom."

Brennan paused for a second and Booth held his breath. Brennan put her hand over Maxine's and spoke. "No, but I'm your sister. If you want to stay with me, and if you want me to keep you safe, you need to try being safe yourself, okay?"

Maxine nodded. "Okay, but wasn't that self defense?"

Booth chuckled. "Technically, it is, but you're the one who walked up to her."

"And you started a conversation that led her to hitting you again." Brennan finished.

"I guess I can see your point now." Maxine looked at Booth. "Are you a father?"

Booth was surprised with the question, but he smiled. "Yeah, I have a son. He's nine."

"But you're not with the mother anymore?"

"No, I'm not, it didn't work. How did you know this stuff?"

"I'm good at putting puzzle pieces together. You have the whole father speech thing down, and the instincts, plus when you were on the phone with Hannah it didn't seem like she was the mother type person. I could just feel it."

Booth smiled. "You know you are good at observing. Bones has the science observation skills down, but you got the life skills mastered. Try figuring out Bones for me. I've known her for seven years and I still haven't figured her out yet."

Maxine laughed, but flinched at the pain. Reality was brought back to them and they remembered she was hurt. Booth looked at his watch. "I have to go do a few things, but I'm gonna come back with dinner. Thai food good for you, Maxine?"

"Love it." Maxine smiled.

"Alright, I'll see you two later." Booth headed out the door.

"He likes you." Maxine said.

"Maxine, don't start now." Brennan sighed.

"He's going to talk to Jessica at the Jeffersonian then he's going to get Thai food and come straight back here, his girlfriend on the other hand, he doesn't spend as much time with as he spends with you."

"Prove to me that you are so good at observing."

"Well, after you told me that story last night, I figured out a few things by the way you two act and his girlfriend being in the picture."

"And?"

"He has already told you about his feelings for you, you just turned him down and he had to find a way to move on, which ends up being someone else. Yet you sit here thinking that he has already moved on and you regret not saying yes in the first place because you do love him, you're just scared of what would happen if he left you."

Brennan was speechless.

"I'd say the best thing is to take a risk. Regrets are the worse thing you could die with, especially if you could end up alone."

"You're right." Brennan said. "You're absolutely right."

* * *

**Ooh, this story is getting good huh. I hope you're liking it. Please review, I love hearing from you guys.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 has arrived. I've been writing like crazy before winter break is over and I have to go back to school. Let's just say I've been staying up till two in the morning writing for you. You owe me a review at least, don't be shy. Saying 'great' makes me happy, too.**

**Let's see what happens to Jessica. I'm actually not sure what they would do to a seventeen year old kid who actually breaks another person's bones in a fight, so don't get mad by the way I'm gonna put it if I'm wrong. I do believe they would be expelled and sent to Juvi, if I spelled that right.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

"I'm gonna head home, Michelle. I need to take something for this headache that little freak gave me." Jessica started to walk to the doors, but security stopped her.

"Sorry, miss, you can't leave, strict orders from the FBI. If you have to call someone to tell them where you are, do it now, you may be here a while. Agent Booth and his partner drove a kid to the hospital, he should be back any time now." He walked Jessica back to Michelle where Cam had now shown up. "Cam, you can take it from here."

"Thank you, Stevens. Let's go to my office, you two can stay there."

When they made it to the office Jessica was actually a bit nervous and showing it. "Is Maxine's new foster parents, and FBI agent and his partner."

Cam laughed. "No, this situation is more permanent than that."

"They adopted her?" Jessica was shocked.

"No, our head forensic anthropologist here, also known as Dr. Temperance Brennan, is her older sister. When she found out, she took her in. Agent Booth is her partner and best friend, so if you're nervous, you should be."

Jessica looked at Michelle with fear in her eyes, but Maxine just shook her head. "I told you to stop picking on her."

"Why are you so sensitive on this subject, Michelle?"

"Because my parents are both dead, Cam adopted me." Michelle simply said. "She was the only one there for me."

Jessica couldn't say anything at that point. That's when there was a knock on the door. Michelle stood up and saw Booth walking in. "How is she?"

"She's got two broken ribs and her face is a bit bruised up, she has to stay in the hospital until she heals. She'll be fine in a couple days."

"Did you tell her the story about how you broke your ribs?" Cam asked.

Hodgins was at the door listening. "I remember when you broke your ribs. I hope you didn't bring that up because Brennan would start lecturing you about how you shouldn't have left the hospital so early."

"If I didn't leave, she would be dead, and I hope when that baby of yours arrives, you'll actually get a bigger car."

"It was a classic."

"Anyways, you must be Jessica." Booth walked in front of the couch where they were sitting.

Jessica gulped and slowly nodded her head. "That's me."

"I'm sure Cam has already told you about me, my partner, and how she's the older sister of Maxine. Got anything to say about any of that."

"No, sir."

"You sure, you had a lot to say before, I mean you had an entire list probably printing inside your head."

"Can I plead the fifth?" Jessica asked hesitantly.

"Yes, but you're going to listen to me first because I have to go out and pick up dinner for an injured girl in the hospital." He knelt leaned down so he could talk to her at eye level. "I'm not going to turn you in, and I'm not gonna call your parents because I hope that punch Maxine threw actually proved how bad you could be beaten next time. I want you to look at her point of view for a second. What if your parents decided to just disappear, you had no family left, or no one wanted to take care of you. You were sent into the system and you've learned not to trust many people. From what I have seen, the system tears people down. I've met kids who just won't talk, I've met others who do stupid things just to get a piece of food. I'm a cop, I see a lot of things, not a lot of things I understand, and I'll admit, I used to think of foster kids in a bad way when I was younger. That was until I met someone special, didn't trust anyone, locked herself up in her work. I thought it was just the way she was, but when I got her to open up a little, I found out about the foster system. Every kid has a different story, some worse than others. Some of their parents died, some never even met their parents, some parents abandoned them. They go through so much, they get moved around all of the time. Maxine ran away, she got a job, she did whatever she could to live and know she'll have a chance of making a future of herself. For her to meet her long lost family, open up as much as she already has, since we met her yesterday, she's the most trusting one I've met. Now, you're lucky to get off with a warning for beating her and brutally kicking her on the ground at the school. Next time I ever hear about something like this happening and you're involved in any way. I'll find out, and it won't be expulsion you'll be getting." He stood back up noticing the change in everyone's face in the room.

"Met someone special, Seeley?" Cam asked with a smirk on her face.

"Forget it, Camille." Booth warned.

"Don't call me Camille."

"Don't call me Seeley." He walked to the door where Hodgins was trying so hard not to laugh. He stopped and turned around. "Don't tell Bones, I said that." Then he left.

Hodgins started laughing. "If I tell Angela and she tells Brennan, does that count?"

Cam shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Don't even think about it Hodgins!" Booth's voice echoed.

Hodgins smiled faded. "Then again, Booth's threatened to shoot me a couple times now." Cam nodded as he walked out to go back to working with his bugs.

Michelle looked at the speechless Jessica. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She stood up. "I'm gonna head home, I don't want my parents to worry about where I'm at." And she was gone. Cam and Michelle exchanged a glance and Michelle had a feeling she wasn't going to be seeing Jessica around her anymore just for knowing her mom knew the cop.

* * *

Booth called in the Thai food and was heading out to pick it up, when he got to the restaurant, he pulled out his phone. "Hey, Hannah."

"Seeley, did you have to work late?" Hannah's voice came through the phone.

"No, we finished the case earlier today, but one of Bones' relatives got hurt, I helped take them to the hospital. I'm gonna stay with them for a couple hours to make sure they're alright." Booth stood by the wall as he talked.

"No, that's fine, I hope they are okay, how is Temperance doing, should I stop by?" She asked.

"Bones is fine, it's just the girl, she's got broken ribs and she's bruised up."

"Did this happen on the case?"

"No, no, it was a fight." Booth reassured her not to worry.

"Oh, okay. You sure I shouldn't come by, bring something, gift or anything?"

"You know what, sure why don't you come by, you can meet her."

"Okay."

"I'll text you the room number."

"I love you, I'll see you there."

"Love you, too." Booth put the phone back in his phone, grabbed the to go order that was his and took off out the door.

* * *

**Sorry, no Maxine in this chapter, but I think I know what I'm gonna do with the characters I got here. I hope you like the way the stories going, I know some things are a bit crazy and big like actually ending up in the hospital after a school fight crazy, but big is interesting.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 has begun, are you here to read it. I hope you are, it's going to be interesting. Actually, I'm writing this before I even write the chapter, but you guys think it's going to be good, so keep reading. And review afterwards, I know you want to.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

Maxine and Brennan were watching TV just as Booth walked in with their food and Maxine tried to sit up, but failed. She didn't move, but stayed laying back as Brennan slowly moved the seat up. "Thanks." She said shyly.

"I've had to do that for Booth once. He had a couple broken ribs from one of the cases we were working on. It could have been me, but Booth is stubborn and over protective at times." Brennan said dryly.

"Bones, you would have died if I wasn't so over protective, need I remind you, if you kept insisting on going into the field, you're gonna get hurt." Booth said putting the food on the table in front of Maxine.

"Are you saying you're not going to take me into the field anymore?" She asked.

He stopped moving and looked at her for a moment. "You know I can't go into the field without you." He smiled. "We're a team, right? We're partners, we're the best, just try not getting yourself hurt, or shooting a gun when I tell you not to." He finished putting the food out.

Brennan was just looking at him smiling until he looked at her, noticing the whole time. "What?"

"Nothing." She said, then grabbed one of the cartons and chop sticks.

Booth smiled until he realized Maxine was smiling childishly at him. He coughed and changed the subject as he grabbed his carton and chop sticks. "Hannah wants to stop by for a little bit before I leave, if you want, she can stay here with Maxine for a bit and I can drive you back to the Jeffersonian so you can get your car."

"Yeah, that'll be fine."

"Okay, good."

They were looking at each other longer than they should have and Booth noticed the smile on Maxine's face once again. "Maxine, eat, please." He picked up a carton and handed it to her with the chopsticks.

"It's about time, I was trying to get you to hand me that for a while now." Maxine opened it and started eating.

* * *

It was about forty minutes later when there was a knock at the door. "Hey, Maxine, how are you feeling?" Angela and Hodgins walked in.

Maxine smiled. "I feeling a bit better."

Hodgins was looking around the room. "No pudding. You're supposed to get pudding when you're in the hospital."

"You're two hours too late, Hodgins." Maxine said.

Hodgins sighed and sat down as Angela handed Maxine a present. "Here's your get well gift." Maxine opened it and pulled out a picture frame with a drawing Angela made for her. It was a little sketch of Maxine holding up her fist in the air with the words 'Get Well' written in the bottom right corner. "Do you like it?"

Maxine was smiling big and she looked up at Angela. "Angela, this is amazing, thank you so much." She turned it around to show everyone else in the room and everyone started smiling and Brennan pulled Angela in for a hug. That was when there was another knock on the door.

Maxine looked along with everyone else and noticed a blonde standing outside the glass then walking in. She noticed the way Booth stood up, that was his girlfriend, Hannah, and she also noticed the way he looked at her. It wasn't the way he looked at Brennan. The way he looks at his partner was pure, but at Hannah, it wasn't much to say. He just looked at her in the pure way, but you couldn't see the love show through his entire body the way it did with Brennan. That's when Maxine knew he was just telling himself he was in love with her and trying to fight the urge of being with Brennan.

"Seeley." She smiled and kissed Booth on the lips for a moment. "And Temperance, I haven't seen you in a while." She came over and gave her friend a hug. "I see there's a new addition to the group." She smiled at Maxine.

"This is Maxine, my little sister." Brennan said.

Booth smiled when he heard her say those words and was curious about others he hasn't head before. He's never heard her call someone her boyfriend. He's heard other terms, but never that.

"It's nice to meet you, Maxine, I'm Hannah." She smiled and pulled a card out of her bag. "I picked this up on the way here for you." She handed her the card and smiled when Maxine laughed at the cartoon on the card.

"Thank you." Maxine said.

"We better get going, Ange, likes to fall asleep before she even knows she's tired. I don't want to carry her from the car again." Hodgins had already grabbed her purse and everything and was helping his wife stand up.

Angela smacked him. "Don't you dare call me fat, Jack."

"I didn't... I didn't mean to..."I'm..."

"Shut up, let's just go. I hope you get well, Maxine." They walked out the door and Booth was still laughing about the hormonal Angela outburst.

Maxine stopped laughing and made sure Hodgins was gone. "Hey, Booth." When he looked, she tossed him a pudding cup then held out a spoon.

"You said you didn't have any left." He took the spoon and opened the pudding cup like a happy little child and looked up to find Brennan and Hannah staring at him. "I love these things."

"Why don't you buy some at the store?" Hannah asked.

"It's not the same." Maxine and Booth said in unison.

"Oh, Hannah, would you mind staying with Maxine for a bit? I have to drive Bones back to the Jeffersonian so she can get her car, then I'll head back to the apartment." Booth asked as he took another bite of the pudding.

"Yeah, that's no problem. I'll stay here and wait for Temperance to get back then I'll go home." She smiled.

Booth stood up, smiled, and gave Hannah a kiss. "Thanks, I love you." He walked over to Maxine while Brennan was getting her stuff. "Don't do anything that'll keep you in here longer, okay?" He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and started walking out. "Let's head out, Bones."

"I'll be right back." She said to Maxine and followed Booth out the door.

* * *

As Booth and Brennan were drinking, things were comfortably silent for a bit of the time until Booth noticed Brennan was acting a bit different. "Something wrong, Bones?"

"I'm fine." She said.

"Hey, Maxine's gonna be just fine. She'll be out of the hospital in a few days." He said sweetly trying to reassure her.

"It's not that." She shook her head.

"But it is something, right?" He reached his arm out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, tell me what's going on."

"I'm regretting not giving you a chance." She said.

His face completely changed, and he was speechless, he took his arm back and continued driving in silence for a few moments thinking he needed time to figure out what to say.

"Please, say something."

"I can't." He said. "I'm with someone, Bones. She's not a consolation prize, I love her." He glanced at her.

She nodded. "It's okay, I understand. Just forget I said anything." She looked out the window and tried to hold back the tears, but they were already falling.

"Bones, you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, I'm just giving you the facts."

She wiped the tears from her face. "Booth, I'll be fine, okay. Just take me to my car and you can go home."

"I'm sorry, Bones. I really am." He tried saying.

"It's okay. I'm fine. You moved on, so can I." She simply said. That was when the conversation ended. He drove her to her car, and went home afterwards. She drove back to the hospital and waited for Hannah to leave and Maxine to fall asleep before she let the tears fall once again. When Maxine woke up and saw what was happening, she ended up holding Brennan and comforting her.

Maxine knew what had happened and didn't understand why it happened that way, but she was hoping something would make those two come together, she just had to wait for it to happen.


	12. Chapter 12

**You probably didn't like how I ended that chapter, but just wait, everyone knows that things happen eventually, so be patient with me here. Alright, let this new chapter begin and I hope you like it. I'm trying to do my best.**

**I do not own Bones!**

* * *

Maxine was released from the hospital after a couple days, missing school, but someone brought her her homework from her classes and Brennan helped her with a few things. Booth stopped by a couple times, but he either was with Hannah, or he didn't stay long. He looked over at Brennan a couple times each visit to see if she was okay, but she tried so hard not to even look at him. It was the day Maxine was being released when she realized that Brennan was starting to move on better. She was back to being Booth's partner and friend, and she noticed he seemed relieved about it. They finally shared a laugh and talked more.

They went to the lab with Maxine, she thought she should go somewhere that didn't involve a bed. She was a bit bored from sitting in the hospital, not really able to move as much. Brennan and Booth told her to be careful since she was still a bit weak, but that didn't stop her from giving tight hugs to everyone she saw. She did it on purpose, too.

Meanwhile, before Maxine was released, Booth told Hannah what happened. He told her that he only loved her, and she was fine with it, she just avoided Brennan for a while until they started talking again.

Hannah stopped by Brennan's office while everyone else was with Maxine. "Hey."

Brennan looked up from her computer. "Hey, Hannah." She sat back in her chair and took a quick glance at her computer before her attention was back on Hannah.

"Booth told me what you said to him."

"He shouldn't have told you that."

"I'm his girlfriend, he felt like he had to."

"Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore, I let it go." She got back on her computer.

"I didn't mean to worry, you're a good person Temperance, I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt Seeley or anyone else around you. I'm sorry I avoided you." She waited for a response, but got nothing. "Listen, I've got time now if you wanted to go hang out, maybe we can find you a date." She winked.

Brennan cracked a smile. "I've got a lot of work to do, I can do lunch at the diner, but then I have to come back here and finish this." She stood up gesturing at her computer.

"That's fine, I'm surprised I got you out of your chair." Hannah laughed and Brennan got the joke. "We've got catching up to do, you have to tell me the story about how Maxine showed up."

"It's a long one."

"I've got time."

* * *

Hannah and Brennan were at the diner sitting across from each other eating their food that came and they were laughing about the Maxine story. "So, she was working at the Jeffersonian daycare center and walking through the lab, she was lucky enough to bump into Booth, start a conversation, get your attention, and as soon as her name pops out all hell breaks loose. That's not luck, that's destiny."

"I don't believe in destiny, or luck." Brennan said.

"Well, how did you get to where you are now?"

"Working hard, and focusing on my studies."

"Okay, well no one is exactly like you, so this girl was just lucky to be at that place at that time." Hannah took a sip of her drink.

"I guess I will agree with you on that because if she was a minute off, she'd still be in the streets, I would have never known, and I guess things would just be normal around here." Brennan said finishing up her food.

"Temperance."

Brennan turned around to see a dark haired man standing by the door dressed in a button down shirt and jeans. She recognized him right off the bat, she stood up and rushed over to get a hug. "Sully, what are you doing here?" She let go and just smiled at him.

"I'm back in town to visit a few people. I went sailing for two years, I started a restaurant in Virginia after that. I've been traveling a lot now, and I decided to come back and look who I run into." He laughed. "How are you Tempe?

"I've been doing the same thing I've always been doing, working. A few interesting things happening every once in a while." She smiled at him. "Why don't you join us at our table?"

"I'd love to." He smiled and followed her to the table and sat next to her. Hannah was just smiling at her.

"Who's this, Temperance?" She asked.

"This is Sully, I worked a case with him when Booth was on leave for shooting a mechanical clown on an ice cream truck." Brennan said.

Hannah smiled and nodded. "I'm Hannah, Booth's girlfriend. And since I drove here, I'm gonna head off to see Booth, I will see you later, okay?"

Brennan nodded. "I'm almost done anyway, I've got to get some work done back at the lab, Sully, if you'd like to come."

"Normally, you hate it when you have distractions." He laughed.

"Not today."

* * *

Everyone was on the second floor of the Jeffersonian hanging out with Maxine. There wasn't much to do, it was late in the day, and they were loving telling crazy stories about their pasts to Maxine. Normally, they'd go home, but they were having a lot of fun. That was until Booth was catching himself looking at Brennan's office as if willing her to show her face or something.

Hannah walked up from behind him. "I took Brennan out for something to eat. You okay, Booth?"

He turned to her and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Did you take one car?"

"Yeah, then some hunk walked in and he's going to drive her back here. I think those two are gonna hit it off." She gave Booth a kiss, but felt something different in it. "Are you upset?"

"No, not at all, I'm happy for her."

"It is what you wanted, isn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah, it is." He said then shook his head. "No, it's not. I've been lying to myself for the past seven years about how I feel."

"Do you want to talk in private?"

"No, I'm gonna say this right here right now. I'm in love with Bones, I always have, I always will. I'm sorry."

Hannah looked at him shocked. "So, I was a rebound?"

"I honestly don't know. I told myself I was in love with you so I could get over her, but obviously that hasn't worked very well."

"Alright." She nodded. "I'll go." She left.

Everyone just looked at Booth in shock and Booth rubbed his face with his hands. "Don't say anything." He said to the group. He could feel Sweets' brain whirling with theories just sitting there.

"Booth." Booth turned his head to see Brennan standing there with Sully. "Sully's back." She gave him a slight smile.

He nodded. "Hey, I met your girlfriend, nice job, man." He gave Booth a quick man hug with a hand shake.

Brennan could still see something in Booth's face. "What's wrong Booth?"

Everyone was holding there breath when Booth looked at her about to speak. He just shook his head. "I proposed to Hannah, she said no, so I ended it, no big deal."

"Booth, I'm so sorry." She said.

"I'm fine, never could have been better." He turned and walked off.

Sully turned to Brennan. "I'm gonna go. I have to go back to Virginia. I hope you stop by sometime."

"You're leaving, so soon."

"Well, last time I saw Booth with that face was when I was dating you. And I remember looking back as I sailed away on the boat seeing Booth smiling like a child and waving goodbye. I doubt I'm the only one who's noticed. Go find Booth before you miss your chance." He said and walked off.

Everyone looked at Brennan. Angela finally spoke. "What are you doing just standing there, Booth didn't propose to Hannah, he dumped her right her because he was still in love with you!"

Maxine looked at Angela. "I don't know if it's the hormones, but you should count in your head so you can make sure she has more than ten seconds to breathe first."

"Booth didn't propose to Hannah?" Brennan asked. They all shook their heads and Brennan pulled out her phone as she started to run to the stairs. She was going to find Booth, as fast as she could before it was too late to do anything.

* * *

**Ooh... getting good huh? So my watch has this effect where it tells me exactly what you're doing. It says you're writing a review for me. Oh, you're not. Must be a minute fast. And if I'm wrong, tell me in a review. :P**


End file.
